


Drunken Backflips

by hyucksicles



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (and they were roommates), Attempt at Humor, Donghyuck is a little shit, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, M/M, Minor Injuries, drunken antics, even if it's a dare, jeno is dumb too... kinda, mark is dumb, warning: don't do backflips while drunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25679842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyucksicles/pseuds/hyucksicles
Summary: It all starts, as most things in Mark's life do, with a dare.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Mark Lee
Comments: 8
Kudos: 56
Collections: Mark Lee Birthday Bash 2020





	Drunken Backflips

**Author's Note:**

> (Based on the prompt "When Mark sprains his ankle, Jeno is the one who takes care of him. It doesn’t hurt that he’s always dreamed of carrying Mark bridal style or being his knight in shining armour.")
> 
> hello!! this was my first ever time taking part in a ficfest, and I won't lie I was kinda lost at the beginning but it ended up being a lot of fun! I wish I could have written more for this, but sadly school has been kicking my ass with important assignments :( 
> 
> anyways, nana <3 , I hope I did your prompt justice and that you, along with all the other readers, enjoy this small little markno one-shot!

It all starts, as most things do in Mark’s life, with a dare. 

More specifically, it starts with a dare from Donghyuck, because his dares are always the most likely to result in injury. Mark has him saved as “Harbinger of Chaos” in his phone for God’s sake. That should be reason enough for Mark to have known better, but a few cheap vodka shots has him stumbling through the backyard of Kunhang’s house and stepping up onto one of the lawn chairs. The flimsy white plastic wobbles underneath his weight as Mark tries to steady himself, turning so that his back faces his friends. 

Shouts and hoots ring out from behind him, where his friends sit on the dew covered grass at near midnight. Their voices mingle together, but Mark can clearly make out the shrill laughter of his best friend, most likely holding up his phone with the camera pointed towards him. 

“Come on, Mark! What are you waiting for?” Donghyuck’s words slur together, the alcohol bleeding into his voice. 

Mark lifts up a finger and tells him to wait, trying to get his body to cooperate enough to pull off the move. The vodka shots from earlier slosh around in his stomach, his palms are clammy from sweat and if he blinks too often he can feel his head spin. Distantly, there’s a voice inside his mind that tells him that this is a very bad idea, possibly one of the worst ideas ever in the history of his friend groups’ bad ideas, but it’s drowned out by a louder voice, one that sounds distinctly like that of his best friend. 

I _dare_ you. 

Now, sober Mark might’ve brushed off the challenge with a roll of the eyes and ignoring his friends mocking chants, but drunk Mark… Drunk Mark is no coward. Stupid? Maybe, but not a coward. So Mark swings both his arms forward, gathering just enough moment to get up off of his feet. The world shifts in his vision for what feels like a small eternity and suddenly…

Thwack!

Mark doesn’t even register what happens until he’s tumbling over sideways, sharp throbbing pain travelling up his body like shockwaves. He reaches down towards his foot, knees pulled up to his chest but as soon as he grabs it the pain gets worse and he lets out a yelp. He scrunches his face, tears blurring his eyesight as three blobs of colour appear above him. 

“Shit! Mark, are you okay?”

“It’s his foot!”

“Fuck, is it broken?” 

Different voices mix together as they filter in to Mark’s ear, his senses dulled from both the alcohol and the pain at this point. Trying to focus just makes him more dizzy, so he closes his eyes as the voices continue to speak. 

“What are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know! You think of something, it was your stupid fucking idea that caused this!”

“Oh, give me a break, Dejun, it’s not like you guys weren’t enjoying this little stunt a few seconds ago.” Warm hands press against Mark’s cheeks as Donghyuck’s voice comes much closer, a waft of alcohol fanning across Mark’s face and making him scrunch up his nose in mild disgust. “Hey Mark, you okay, buddy?”

Mark grunts, keeping his eyes shut because he’s somehow trying to convince himself that this is all just a dream and he’s about to wake up in soft, white sheets with no mind numbing pain running up and down his lower leg. 

“Should we call an ambulance?” Mark hears Dejun ask, panic laced into his tone. He can almost imagine the other standing there, both hands scrunched up in his peroxide blonde hair.

“And get charged like 10k for a thirty minute ride?” Kunhang answers, “Fuck no! Just call Jeno.” There’s the sound of a number being dialed as a set of footsteps retreat further away.

Donghyuck doesn’t join in on the conversation, too preoccupied with repeatedly tapping his hands on Mark’s cheeks. “Mark, bud, can you please open your eyes for me?” 

A groan makes it’s way past Mark’s lips as he forces his eyes open, blinking against the outdoor lighting that had been turned on while his eyes were still shut. “Okay, good. Where does it hurt? Your foot?” Mark nods, and his gaze sweeps over his younger friend for a moment, caramel hair pushed out of his face and sticking up in all directions as sweat trickles down his forehead. 

“Can you move it? Is it broken?” With some effort and a hiss, Mark is able to wiggle his toes within the confines of his tattered old converse. Donghyuck breathes out a sigh next to him, sluming back onto his calves as his shoulders drop. “Oh, thank Fuck. That means nothing’s broken, right?” 

Mark leans up onto his elbows and gives his best friend the deadliest glare he can muster in his weakened state as Donghyuck puts on a sheepish smile. With a sigh, Mark slumps back down, ignoring the dull thump of the back of his head hitting the ground. 

“Where is he?” The all too familiar voice has Mark shooting right back up, accidentally moving his leg in the process and causing a new wave of pain to wash over him. he swallows down his yelp, however, as his eyes dart towards none other than Jeno, who is currently crossing the yard in a state that can only be described as peak exasperation.  
He remembers Kunhang mentioning Jeno earlier, but somehow his mind hadn’t been able to keep up and now Mark feels very much exposed, lying on the grass with his leg in the air and his clothes sticking to his sweaty skin. Heat rises to his cheeks as Jeno comes closer and closer, eventually kneeling down by Mark’s side. 

“Mark, hey, are you okay?” Jeno threads his fingers through Mark’s hair as he hovers above him and Mark nearly chokes on his own spit. The porch lights frame Jeno’s face from behind like a halo, and Mark actually thinks he might be slightly hallucinating because Jeno really does look like he’s an angel sent to rescue him, fluffy brown hair, skewed glasses and all. 

Mark can’t find his voice, so he simply nods, swallowing down the saliva in his mouth that still tastes distinctly like the acetone flavoured vodka from earlier. Disgusting. Jeno gives him a small, concerned smile before his face snaps toward Donghyuck, jaw setting. 

“What the hell happened?” 

“Mark did a backflip.” 

“What!?”

“Well, actually, Donghyuck dared Mark to do a backflip—” 

“Shut the fuck _up_ , Dejun.” Donghyuck seethes through clenched teeth as jeno’s head darts back around from where he had turned towards their other friends. 

“You _what_!?”

“What? It was a good dare!” Donghyuck tries to justify himself to an increasingly angrier looking Jeno. “And they wanted him to do it too!” He points a finger towards the others, who immediately avoid any and all eye contact. 

Jeno is silent for a moment, eyes travelling between the empty alcohol bottles on the garden table and the three young men, more like boys given their ridiculous behaviour, before speaking again. “God, you’re all such _idiots_.” 

“Mark, lift up your arms and put them around my neck.” Mark is startled at suddenly being addressed but does as he’s told, hoping Jeno can’t hear how hard the older’s heart is currently beating. One of Jeno’s arms reaches around his back while the other comes under his knees in order to lift him up. The action makes Mark inhale a sharp intake of breath, but the pain has gotten more manageable. 

“Okay, I’m gonna drive Mark to the hospital and you three,” Jeno pauses to shoot all of them a glare, “Can stay here and clean up this mess.” 

“Oh, what?” Donghyuck whines out, trailing behind them as Jeno starts to head for the door. “We can’t come with?”  
“I am not dealing with your drunk asses any longer tonight, so no.” 

“But—”

“I said _no_.” Jeno’s tone is harsh as he turns around to face Donghyuck, effectively cutting him off. Mark watches his friend’s face fall slightly and has half a mind to tell Jeno not to be so hard on him. That it’s his own fault too for agreeing to the stupid prank, but he feels too tired to croak out the words, instead clinging silently to Jeno as he steps out into the cold night air.

* * *

The visit to the hospital goes about as smoothly as possible, and Mark is in the passenger seat on the drive back home only an hour after arriving with his foot bandaged and a bottle of painkillers in his jacket pocket. (Well, technically, Jeno’s jacket pocket.) 

He’s told he has to spend the next two weeks resting his foot as much as possible. Doctor’s orders. 

This means no going on morning runs, no soccer practice and definitely no going to parties and attempting backflips while five shots deep into a bottle of vodka. It’s a good thing they’re currently on break, so at least Mark isn’t missing any classes due to his and his friends stupidity. 

What it does mean, however, is that Jeno carries him basically everywhere, bridal style. Their apartment is two stories high, with their bedrooms on the first floor, so Jeno takes it upon himself to carry Mark up and down those very stairs every single day. Mark often fears he’ll get sick of it, but Jeno almost seems as if he’s thoroughly enjoying it, and Mark swears he sees the younger's cheeks flush pink whenever their heads come a little too close together. 

This, in turn, makes Mark’s heart go haywire in his chest, butterflies dancing around his stomach anew every time Jeno’s strong arms lift him up from the ground. 

They always exchange small smiles or a few chuckles whenever jeno places him back down again, and Mark is becoming fairly certain that Jeno’s hand lingers on his waist a little longer than necessary after each time. 

He’s not entirely sure he isn’t losing his mind though, so he decides to get a second opinion on the matter. And by second opinion, he means Donghyuck, who of course, is no help at all. 

**Harbinger of Chaos:** duh ofc he likes you, you dingus. it’s so fucking obvious. didn’t you see how he nearly bit my head off that night??

**Harbinger of Chaos:** thanks for letting me take the fall for that one btw prick

**You:** you literally dared me tho?? 

**Harbinger of Chaos:** so?? you agreed to it

**You: **i was drunk ??****

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******Harbinger of Chaos** : so was i ?? ****

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******You** : oh.. yeah lol ****

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******You** : touche ****

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Mark spins his phone around in his hands after swiping out of the chat. His bottom lip is pulled between his teeth as he thinks, tuning out whatever show is running on the TV in front of him, the screen halfway blocked by his propped up foot anyway. 

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If, as Donghyuck had so eloquently put it, it was “so fucking obvious” that Jeno liked him, then why has he never said anything about it? They’ve been roommates for over a year now, friends for even longer than that, so why not say anything? 

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You haven't said anything either, dumbass, the voice inside his mind helpfully supplies (and even sober, it sounds suspiciously like Donghyuck.) It has a point though, Mark has been crushing pathetically hard on his sweet, loving, chiseled-jaw beauty of a friend since day one, and has done jack shit about it. 

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Sober Mark is a coward, case in point, and drunk Mark has never been around Jeno long enough in the state to do anything. Mark honestly can’t decide if he’s grateful for that or not. 

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The sound of the lock on the door clicking open is enough to jostle Mark out of his thoughts. He darts his eyes over towards it, the familiar sight of Jeno stepping through the threshold with grocery bags hanging from both his arms greeting him. 

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“Hey,” Mark says. Jeno parrots it back, glasses slightly slipping down the bridge of his nose. “You need help with that?” The older asks, lifting himself up from the couch. 

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“No, no! You stay put.” 

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“Are you sure? My ankle’s already much better, you know.” Mark explains as he walks over to the kitchen where Jeno sets down the groceries on one of the counters. His steps are slow and careful, but Mark has finally been able to put some weight on the afflicted foot with minimal pain. 

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“It is?” Jeno asks, and he seems almost disappointed when his face shoots up to meet Mark’s. It drops down again just a second after. “I mean, that’s great!” 

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“Yeah…” Mark drawls, an idea forming in his mind as he watches Jeno start to unload the things he’d bought from the store into the fridge. He pulls out one of the breakfast bar stools, hopping onto it with the help of his good foot. “Pretty soon you won’t have to carry me around bridal-style anymore.” 

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“Oh,” Jeno breathes out, his back turned towards Mark as he wrestles around with the vegetables in the fridges bottom drawer, “Heh, yeah, I guess so.” He tries for a chuckle, but it sounds kind of forced, and he ends up clearing his throat. 

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Mark tilts his head, heart pounding in his chest but Jeno’s weird reaction and the words in Donghyuck’s text spurring him on. “Unless… you want to keep carrying me around bridal-style?” 

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“What?” Jeno jolts up so fast, hitting the back of his head on the inside of the fridge with a loud bang and a hiss that has Mark jumping down from his stool (careful to use only one leg, of course). 

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“Oh My God, are you okay?” Mark sputters out, reaching out and losing his weight as he stumbles forward and into Jeno. 

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He doesn't intend for them to be this close, but now he’s here, face to face and chest to chest with the younger, and he’s pretty sure both of them look like deer caught in headlights. There’s no turning back now, though, Mark thinks to himself as he straightens up just a tad, Jeno’s hands placed firmly on his waist to steady him. 

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“Oops,” he says, and both of them chuckle quietly before Mark continues, “Is your head okay? That sounded pretty painful.” Mark reaches up to the back of Jeno’s head, careful as he runs his fingers over the hair there. his eyes flicker to Jeno’s throat as the younger swallows. 

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“Yeah, it’s fine. Don’t worry.” Jeno whispers, because they’re so close now that there’s almost no space between them. Mark hadn’t even realized. His eyes keep flitting between Jeno’s eyes and his lips. 

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Okay, that’s it. Mark is about to literally go insane if he doesn’t tell Jeno how he feels right this second. So, hands trembling and butterflies violently rattling their cage, Mark takes a deep breath and swallows around the knot in his throat. 

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“Listen, Jeno, I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a long time, and maybe this isn’t the best place or time and it’s definitely not romantic or anything but—” 

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“I like you.” 

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Mark blinks. “What?” His voice is barely audible, mind blanking on words to say. 

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“I said,” Jeno clears his throat, “I said, I like you. As more than a friend. Have for… quite a while now, actually.” 

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“Why didn't you say anything?” Mark asks, rather dumbly, because he knows the answer, but his brain is still struggling with the idea of a coherent thought. 

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“Well, because I thought... my feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated. Still don’t know if they are, to be honest.” Jeno lets out a nervous chuckle, shifting on his feet. 

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“What? Of course they are. I was literally about to confess.” 

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It’s Jenos turn to look shocked, mouth forming a small “o” as his eyes widen. “You were?” 

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Mark blinks, again, before a laugh ripples up through his throat. “Yes? What did you think I was gonna say?” 

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Jeno smiles, a beautiful wide smile, pink dust settling on the apples of his cheeks. “Uh, I— Well I was kinda too distracted by you being so close, so I— I, uh, I wasn’t listening…” 

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Mark snorts, honest to God snorts, quickly bringing up a hand to cover his face only to have it piried away by a laughing Jeno. His own hand is then replaced by Jeno’s, who gently cups the side of his face. Their breathing evens out as their foreheads meet, gently swaying in the middle of the kitchen, surrounded by still unpacked grocery bags. 

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It’s not perfect, and it’s definitely not how Mark had imagined it countless times in his daydreams, but it’s sweet and it;s gentle, and maybe a little odd, but it's them. Mark wouldn’t trade this moment for anything in the world, he’s sure of it. 

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Especially when Jeno finally tilts his head down and brings their lips together, melting into each other as Mark’s arms loop around the back of Jeno’s neck, pulling him closer. 

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Jeno’s arms move downwards to wrap themselves around Mark’s torso, gently lifting him up off of the floor and making the older giggle into Jeno’s mouth. Jeno spins him around once before gently setting him down again, careful so that Mark doesn’t hurt his ankle. 

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“Finally”, Jeno starts and Mark raises both eyebrows, “I don’t need an excuse to do this anymore.” 

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“Do what?” 

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Mark’s question is answered as Jeno scoops him up into his arms, bridal-style, causing Mark to start laughing all over again and Jeno places kisses along the side of his face, not unlike the overgrown puppy he so often resembles. 

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Mark, still laughing, clings onto Jeno’s frame as the younger makes his way out of the kitchen, walking much faster than usual with a certain new-found energy as he makes his way towards the stairs, the groceries in the kitchen long forgotten. 

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**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading! as always, kudos/comments are very much appreciated! <3


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